(NaturalNews) The Miami man who chewed the face off another man back in May was high on marijuana, not "bath salts." This is the claim now being made by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Department, anyway, which is conveniently targeting marijuana at a time when many American states continue to advance decriminalization legislation.

Rudy Eugene, 31, now dead, made national news back in May when he stripped the clothes off a homeless man on Miami's MacArthur Causeway, and proceeded to feast on the man's face in zombie-like fashion. At the time, it was suspected that Eugene may have been high on bath salts, which are synthetic street drugs that often contain amphetamine-like chemicals. (http://www.drugabuse.gov)

But the tests are now in, and they apparently show that Eugene was exclusively under the influence of marijuana, and did not have "any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs, or any adulterants found in street drugs" in his system. An outside forensic toxicology laboratory has apparently confirmed this as well, having issued a statement claiming that bath salts were not in the zombie-man's system.

Since when does marijuana trigger bouts of cannibalism and other extreme behaviors?

It appears as though this fresh release of information is meant to associate marijuana use with extreme behaviors such as cannibalism in order to sway public opinion against legalization of the plant. But Eugene's outlandish behavior the day of his zombie attack and subsequent death most likely had absolutely nothing to do with his marijuana use, despite what authorities would have us believe.

According to eyewitness accounts, Eugene was first seen climbing light poles naked on the bridge where he would later attack 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, the man whose face is now 75 percent destroyed as a result of being eaten. Reports indicate that Eugene was swinging around "acting like Tarzan," and later "growled" at police when they ordered him to stop eating Poppo's face. (http://www.abc15.com)

These and other erratic behaviors are more closely aligned with demon possession or extreme mental illness than they are with marijuana use. Those who use marijuana, in fact, typically do so to achieve a calm, mellowed-out state of euphoria, not to become so brain-damaged that they begin trolling the streets like animals looking human bodies that they can devour.

Zombie behavior linked to synthetic marijuana

At least two similar incidents involving zombie-like behavior have occurred since the bizarre cannibalism incident in Florida, which suggests that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) warning about a "zombie apocalypse" really is coming true.

The U.K.'s Daily Mail reports that an Indianapolis "ninja zombie" recently went on a violent rampage against local residents. David Martin, 27, had been running around the streets of Indianapolis naked, screaming at passersby while punching and kicking them, before police finally caught him and subdued him with tasers. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk)

In a more disturbing incident, a Texas man apparently also went on a "zombie spree" recently at a family gathering, where he began attacking his own family members and neighbors. The New York Daily News claims that Michael Daniel, 22, had been crawling around on all fours and barking and growling like an animal. He later decided to attack the family dog by beating it, choking it, and eventually eating it alive. (http://www.nydailynews.com)

The common denominator in both of these incidents, according to reports, was synthetic marijuana, which also goes by the names "spice" or "K-2." The side effects of synthetic marijuana include paranoia, panic attacks, and even violence, the latter of which is typically not associated with natural marijuana.